Staff Reporter
Government has approved the separation of the Companies and Intellectual Property Offices from the Department of Deeds, Companies and Intellectual Property, as its continued combination made it inflexible and unable to keep up with the ever changing business demands.
Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Monica Mutsvangwa, revealed this during the 38th Post Cabinet Press Briefing.
“The nation is advised that currently the Companies and Intellectual Property Offices are sections within the Department of Deeds, Companies and Intellectual Property. The scenario has remained rigid and unchanged for the past forty years and can no longer keep up with the increasing obligations and modern business demands for real time service. In the advent of the promulgation of the Companies and Other Business Entities Act, there is need to operationalise this requirement.
It is therefore essential to restructure and create a fully constituted Companies and Intellectual Property Office, devoted to dealing with companies and intellectual property matters. This will go a long way in improving the ease of doing business in Zimbabwe,” said Mutsvangwa.
Furthermore, according to Section 3 of the Administration of Estates Act (Chapter 6:01) approved the transfer of the Office of the Master of the High Court from the Judicial Services Commission to the Ministry of Justices, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs.
Minister Mutsvangwa said, “In coming up with the decision, Cabinet noted that Section 3 of the Administration of Estates Act (Chapter 6:01) which created the Office of the Master of the High Court clearly states that the office forms part of the Public Service. On the other hand, in performing its functions of supervising insolvent estates, which activities involve administration of liquidation of companies, judicial management, corporate rescue and sequestration of estates of individuals, the Master’s Office does not perform those functions as a court but rather as an administrative board reposed with authority to supervise the winding up of insolvent estates as provided for by the Insolvency Act.
“In addition, the Master of the High Court collects revenue in the form of estate duty and estate fees. This executive function is performed in aide of Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), consequently feeding into the fiscus. This function constitutes the bulk of the Master of the High Court’s work as revenue is collected from all estates,” she said.
